Culture and Ecology of Chaco Canyon and the San Juan Basin

The Classic Adaptation 223number of infant deaths was considered low, butevidence for anemia was present in 83 percent of thechildren under 10 years of age (Akins 1986). Theunderrepresentation of infants and children in thewestern burial rooms at Pueblo Bonito and highnumber of children at Kin Neole (Palkovich 1984)could be indicative of a small residential population inthe canyon with other family members living elsewhere.Periodic visits into the canyon were proposed.Akins's (1986) identification of two distinctburial populations in Pueblo Bonito indicates thatsocial structure encompassed some form of sharingamong the population at this si teo When comparedwith each other, stature differences between the twogroups were documented, but both groups tended tobe taller than those utilizing the small house sites.Although her sample was small, Akins did findpossible links between these two Pueblo Bonitopopulations and two distinct small house sites. Ifproven correct, this would indicate that relationshipsbetween these two types of sites were highly integratedand that many who used the great house mayhave been living in neighboring small sites.Schillaci's (2003) confirmation of the distinctpopUlations in Pueblo Bonito and their probable ties toearlier Basketmaker III populations in southwesternColorado, and their later ties to both the Hopi-Zuniarea and the Rio Grande, suggest that mobility ofgroups through time. Mobility among differentgenetic groups and increasing populations in thesouthern San Juan Basin by the end of the late ninthand early tenth centuries probably brought about aneed for adaptations in social organization to smoothrelationships among different groups, as well as ensuretheir survival. Two groups were able to establish formalburial repositories in the central and largest site inthe canyon. Because there is evidence for more thanone group living fairly close to another in some partsof the San Juan Basin during the Basketmaker III­Pueblo I period (Chapter 4), they would have builtupon earlier foundations, possibly expanding thelevels at which decisions were made for differentgroups (e.g., continuation of use of turquoise andshell offerings during construction). Leaders may alsohave had a need to distinguish themselves from othergroup leaders, whether they were in either situationalor ranked positions. How we interpret the closure ofsites with different animal remains or ceramics has notyet been addressed, but the difference among thesemarkers needs to be explored. Similarly, the variabilityin wall decorations around A.D. 1050 may beindicative of a need to mark rooms used by specificfamilies/clans/sodalities,The identification of several possible clanlsodality rooms in great houses and Pepper's (1920)observations of resemblances of artifacts from PuebloBonito to historic Pueblo society indicate thatmechanisms for integrating different groups may havebeen in place. That a cosmology existed that includedknowledge of the movement of the sun and moon andprobably a yearly calendar is likely. The documentationof two sun-watching stations, in addition to thesolstice marker on Fajada Butte-all probably solsticeobservation sites-and other possible architecturalfeatures from which similar observations could bemade suggest an early origin for some ofthis historicPueblo cosmology.If these lines of evidence are verified, any modelof Chacoan social organization will have to becarefully evaluated to determine whether there werehereditary leaders or if the society operated under amore corporate mode. The Chaco Project, therefore,has raised many questions about early Pueblo society.Until we have better methods to estimate populationand determine the seasonality of the use of large andsmall structures, as well as their functions throughtime, the amount and impact of mobility, and thechronological depth of Pueblo ritual/ceremonial practices,our explanations will remain only models to betested by future archaeologists. (See Chapter 9 for anevaluation of models proposed for Chaco socialorganization. )